UPCOMING EVENTS

Xiaomi marked its official entry into the U.K. today with the launch of the Mi 8 Pro, a smartphone with a 6.21-inch screen, alongside a range of other products, including the Mi 8, Redmi 6A smartphone, the Xiaomi Band 3 fitness tracker, and the Mi electric scooter.

Though Xiaomi has been largely focused on its native China and other Asian markets, including India, the company has been steadily rolling out a range of products to new regions, including Latin America and parts of northern and eastern Europe. It’s not yet selling phones in the U.S., but it is selling other products, such as set-top boxes.

Xiaomi officially entered the western European market last November, starting with Spain, which was followed by France and Italy earlier this year. Though Xiaomi products have been easy enough to buy in the U.K. through third-party sellers before now, today represents the first stage in a major U.K. push, which will include a brick-and-mortar Mi Store in Westfield London that is due to open on November 18.

Mi 8 Pro

Above: Wang Xiang from Xiaomi

Presenting to a packed crowd in the U.K. capital today, Xiaomi unveiled the Mi 8 Pro for the first time outside China.

“Today we witness a new chapter in Xiaomi’s global expansion journey, underpinned by our global ambitions,” said the company’s senior VP, Wang Xiang.

With a price starting at £499 ($653), the Mi 8 Pro is very much pitched at the affordable end of the flagship spectrum, and it’s more in line with OnePlus’ pricing structure than Huawei’s. Put simply, the Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro is very competitively priced, which suggests that the company is going to push hard for new customers on its U.K. debut.

The device sports a transparent glass back design so you can see inside the phone.

Above: Mi 8 Pro

As is the case with a growing number of smartphones, including those from OnePlus and Huawei, it features an in-screen fingerprint scanner to unlock the device. And yes, it also has a big ol’ notch.

Above: Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro

In terms of other specs, the Mi 8 Pro has fairly top-of-the-range innards, including a Snapdragon 845 chip, AI-infused dual camera lenses, and infrared (IR) face-unlock. It also comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of built-in storage. But compared to other devices that have gone to market recently, it has a relatively small battery at just 3,000 mAh.